Page 10 - Suncor 360 - October 2014

08

FEATURE
We are all
OCTOBER 2014
360
connected
some
t

and a part of

One perfectly ordinary day back in 1961, a low-profile assistant professor

in MIT’s Department of Meteorology deviated ever so slightly from

scientific procedure...and the repercussions were felt around the world.

While working with an early computer program he’d developed to simulate weather,
Edward Lorenz changed one of a dozen numbers representing atmospheric conditions from

.506127 to .506. What seemed like an inconsequential act of rounding down proved to be
anything but. This tiny change dramatically altered the long-term forecast...and the way we’ve

come to think about cause, effect, variables, influence and interconnectedness.

In his 1972 paper – Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a
Tornado in Texas? – Lorenz set out a concept now broadly known as the Butterfly Effect,

which centres on the notion that small events and actions can have major impacts.

So what does this have to do with Suncor?

A great deal.

We’re all part of We’re a fully integrated

something bigger
energy company

One of our five core values – Commitments As Canada’s largest integrated energy

matter – reminds us that we are all connected company, big-picture thinking is crucial to
and part of something bigger.
Suncor’s continued success. By operating

profitable businesses in resource extraction,
As the beacons that guide everything we do
mid-stream logistics, refining and retail, we’re
and how we do it, our values remind us that able to maximize the efficiency of our
there are no shortcuts, no easy answers and
operations and the value they create. The
no room for compromise – especially when it diversity of our operations also helps us
comes to how we treat our environment, our
respond to market changes and buffers our
relationships with each other and the business from the ups and downs of the
communities in which we operate.
world economy.

Everything we do – no matter how trivial or Given our tight integration across the value

inconsequential it may seem at the time – can chain, what happens in any part invariably
have large and widespread effects...for better affects the whole.

or for worse.
Whether you’re extracting crude from the
When we stay true to our values –
Athabasca oil sands, the depths of the North
when we never lose sight of the fact that Sea or the deep underside of the Libyan
we’re all connected and part of something
desert – whether you’re refining petroleum
bigger – we make mindful, forward-looking products in Edmonton, Sarnia, Montreal or
decisions, ensure consistency and integrity in
Commerce City – whether you’re selling crude
all of our actions and interactions, and keep or managing pipeline capacity at one of our

considerations of safety always at the fore.
Supply & Trading offices, helping our business
grow from our Calgary head office or

operating one of our many Petro-Canada